Another chance to take on guns

Published 4:18 pm, Friday, November 9, 2012

Another national election is history. As notable as the winners and losers are the issues that went undiscussed, either because they're politically unpopular or the electorate did not demand to know the candidates' views.

High on the list is global warming, with a pair of devastating storms in the last month bringing the issue to the forefront.

But another equally important issue that received almost no attention in the national race is guns. Illegal firearms on the streets of cities like Bridgeport take a terrible toll every year, in terms of lives lost and a sense of safety shattered, and stand in the way of a city trying, as always, to build itself back into something better.

Last week brought the welcome news that Bridgeport police had arrested a suspect in the killing of a 14-year-old city resident in January. Mayor Bill Finch used the occasion to plead for common-sense reforms that would help prevent such horrific acts from happening at all.

There's a new Congress, though it looks a lot like the old one, which showed no interest in taking on the powerful gun lobby. President Obama has four more years in office, but he, too, has taken little initiative on this. With as much support as he has earned in two elections in Bridgeport and places like it, this is something that ought to be on his list of priorities.

Finch is right. These kind of tragedies shouldn't just be expected. But it will take action at a much higher level than Bridgeport City Hall to make it stop.